Chapter 74

October 25, 2045 – 10:10 PM

Carl studied the ashy flakes of snow as they pelted his car windows like pebbles. Waves of light from the city beyond his vehicle came and went, bathing him in blue, pink, and white before washing back out. The volume of his radio was so low, the music went over his head like trivial chatter, leaving him alone with his thoughts. Carl Maslow, Psychwatch officer, the man who could save everyone but his own family.

Maybe they weren’t worth it, he thought. They’d crossed too many lines and exceeded the point of saving. Maybe they were rabid dogs, wounded soldiers with their limbs blown off and every sense destroyed. He pondered if they’d deserved such apathy only to remember a quote he’d heard from an old movie he’d seen with his father: “Deserved ain’t got nothin’ to do with it.”

“There’s not a single person in this world,” Carl said, “who hasn’t been hurt by something beyond their control. I guess life is fair like that, after all.”

“And yet,” Loki said, “it fucks up some people more than others. Look at us.”

“Look at us?” Catalina repeated. “We’re alive! That’s a privilege, mi amor.”

“Not in this world, it’s not,” Vince said.

“Holy shit, you finally said more than two words, Vince!” Loki exclaimed. “That’s a new record.”

Carl clenched his fingers, closed his eyes, and leaned back into his seat.

“Where are we even going anyway?” Loki said.

“I don’t know,” Carl muttered.

“You should get some rest, Carl,” said Catalina. “You’ve earned some rest after today. I’m sorry you couldn’t reconnect with Melanie, but I’m sure she’ll come around someday. You did.”

“I appreciate your faith in me, Catty. But I’ve become a reminder of her own trauma. I can’t help her anymore. She has to help herself.”

“That’s how it is for everyone, mi precioso.” With his eyes closed and the city of Philadelphia rendered a bright haze beyond the shroud that was his eyelids, Carl could feel Catalina’s hand resting on his shoulder.

“This must be how Margo felt that evening,” Carl said. “When she called about the break-in at her apartment.”

“Until you answered her call,” Catalina said. “Then we brought her into our home. You made a difference, Carl!”

“No, we made a difference, Catty.” Carl tried to smile but felt his grin sink back down. “I just wish these differences we make lasted longer than they do.”

“That’s why you gotta keep doing it over and over. Like exercise.”

Carl sat up in his seat, glancing out the window. The neon of Downtown vanished, and dilapidated buildings lined the road. All the lights came from apartment windows, bleeding through tattered curtains.

“Hey, Carl,” said Loki. Carl imagined him slumped over in a chair, twirling his fingers about. “Is it true Melanie hates me?”

“I don’t know, kid. I’d say you could ask her yourself, but…”

“Right, she doesn’t want to talk to us ever again.”

“We never should’ve talked to her in the first place,” Vince muttered.

“We?” Loki repeated. “You don’t do a lot of talking, dude.”

“If only the same applied to you. Things were quieter when you weren’t around.”

The car came to a halt, and Carl glanced around at his surroundings. A shantytown welcomed him and his vehicle, the same empty streets and rundown projects lining the horizon. Behind him, he could see the lights atop the tallest skyscrapers in Philadelphia and holographic ads orbiting them like moons.

“You have reached the end of the Philadelphia city tour,” announced the car’s AI.

“Drive home,” Carl ordered, and the car resumed motion.

“Good thinking, Carl,” said Catalina. “Get some sleep. Maybe a hot shower, too.”

“I don’t think I’m going to sleep tonight.”

His head went silent. He heard rocks cracking beneath the tires. He imagined the car having larger tires, the kind that shook the ground and hammered into the pavement.

“You gonna…elaborate on that?” Loki said.

“I want to make a difference, guys.”

“Si, you will!” Catalina said. “But you can’t do it without a good night’s rest.”

“I understand, Catty, but I think I can do something now as we speak. Or at least tonight.”

“What do you have in mind?”

Carl sat up in his seat, inspecting the roads to his right and his left, noting the vehicles, looking out for intersections in the road. He’d remembered those self-driving behemoths he and Holden encountered on the freeway hours ago, like ghostly ships treading the sea.

“Were we co-conscious earlier when me and Holden were driving home?” Carl asked. “I felt myself dissociating multiple times. Were any of you trying to front?”

He felt the others shaking their heads.

“I’d considered it,” Vince said, “but you were fine on your own.”

“So none of you heard or saw what happened.”

“What happened, Carl?” Catalina asked.

“Holden and I came across these enormous driverless trucks. There were five or six of them surrounding us on the freeway. We couldn’t figure out what they were, but they seemed suspicious. There weren’t any logos or paint on them or anything.”

“That’s weird, dude,” Loki said. “Did you see where they were going?”

“We thought about following them, but I didn’t want Holden getting in trouble or ending up in a dangerous situation. Now that he’s safely out of the way, we can investigate.”

In his head, Carl imagined Vince sitting in a chair in the corner of a shadowy room, almost pitch-black. The most he’d ever seen of him were his pale white hands and black clothes, never his face. In that moment, he’d sensed his enigmatic protector rising from his seat, taking five steps forward.

“You realize,” he hissed, “you’re doing this all on a hunch? Out of some desire to make up for letting your family down?”

“I’m telling you, something’s going on. And even earlier, I heard on the news that Psychwatch now has ninety-nine percent of the city under its surveillance. We just need that one percent left.”

“But it’s just one percent,” Loki said. “Don’t we already live in a safe neighborhood?”

“This isn’t just for us, kid. This is about making the city safer for everyone.”

Carl felt his younger alter shrug. “Kinda seems like whenever you guys try to make the city safer, violence breaks out. But then again, the last few months have been peaceful. Haven’t heard anything about those masked guys in a while.”

“Well yeah, they’re probably hiding out in the one percent, waiting to strike again. But it’s up to Psychwatch to…”

He saw his fist curl, floating before him as if victorious, but he couldn’t move. Not his actual body. The dissociation returned, taking him outside. He could almost see his physical body, see it planted in the seat of his car, eyes vacant like a city square past midnight. No light but the moon behind the clouds.

I don’t get it, Carl thought. Why so much in one night? What’s wrong with me?

“Nothing, mi precioso,” said Catalina, her voice like rippling water. “Never has been, never will be. But think about it. Is Psychwatch really the solution? Remember your birthday?”

No. I don’t want to.

“I don’t want to either, Carl, but it’s true. In the end, are they really the empathetic forces of protection they claim to be?”

Breathe…breathe…you’re in your car. The car is driving itself, so you don’t endanger yourself or other people. Breathe…

“Carl, you’re not endangering anyone. You never have. You’re one of the kindest, gentlest people anyone will ever have the pleasure of meeting.”

Breathe…

He was back. His body belonged to him again. He felt a tear trickle down his cheek.

“Carl?” Loki asked. “You okay, man?”

“If you’re wondering,” Carl said, “why I’m still with Psychwatch, it’s because of two things.” He raised up his pointer finger. “I need to make sure that Margo is okay in the end.” Then he extended his middle finger. “And it’s too late for me to be anywhere else.”

Curling his fingers back into a fist and settling his arm on his lap, Carl felt Catalina’s hand rest atop his shoulder. “A person like you always has a place to be. Don’t lose hope.”

“Yeah, dude,” Loki said. “Anyone who says otherwise can go fuck themselves.”

“Loki! Language.” She cleared her throat. “It’s ultimately your decision, Carl. But remember to look out for your safety, too. Our safety, I should specify.”

“Don’t worry, Catty,” said Carl. “I won’t do anything that stupid. I care about all of us too much. Even you, Vince.”

No response.

“Pretty sure he agrees,” Loki said. “So how are we gonna catch those trucks?”

“I’m thinking of making a few phone calls. I think Royce, Andrade, and maybe even Nikki can help us.”

“I thought that Royce guy got fired after all that shit about Margo getting her memories back.”

Carl nodded. “He did, but I’m sure he still knows his way around software vulnerabilities.”

“Wait…what?”

“He’s a hacker, kid. Or was. But I’m sure it’ll all come back to him if we ask him to help.”

“How do you hack a self-driving vehicle?”

“The same way anything else should be hacked: carefully and with a damn good reason.” Carl leaned forward, two fingers on his ThoughtControl piece as the car slowed to a halt before a red stoplight. “Hello? Royce?”

“Maslow?” replied a scratchy voice, followed by a cough.

“I’m calling you for help, Royce. I know—”

“No. Whatever it is you’re planning, don’t do it.”

“You don’t even know what I’m gonna ask.”

“If it involves me, then it’s already a bad fucking idea. Save yourself, Maslow. Block and delete this number. Forget you ever knew me.”

“Royce,” Carl sighed, “I don’t know what you’re up to or if you’re still upset over what happened to Margo, but I’m not holding anything against you. I just need you to help me out. There are these driverless trucks on the road that have some people worried. I was thinking you could hack into them and either uncover their pre-programmed route or alter it entirely.”

“I’m not government-sanctioned anymore, Maslow. If I try anything like that again, I’ll just dig myself deeper than I already have by being a part of Psychwatch.”

“Dig deeper?” Carl repeated. “Look, I’m sure we can—”

“I learned too late that you can’t rush into everything. And Mason? Psychwatch? They have no patience for anyone, and it’s hurting them. It’s hurting you, Maslow. I know it is.”

“Forget about me, Royce. This is about saving the city.”

“Fuck this city. Save yourself and the ones you care about before it’s too late. Before someone breaks you.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

The line crackled. The call was over.

“So how did it go?” Loki asked, and Carl responded by shaking his head.

He jerked forward as the car came to an abrupt halt at an intersection, and one of those irksome driverless trucks barreled past him.

“Shit,” he said. “Follow that truck!”

Red light filled the car, and its AI replied, “You do not have permission to follow this vehicle, as it is company-owned. To follow a company vehicle, authorization from a supervisor is required.”

“Well, what company is it?”

“Information unknown.”

“Goddamn it!” Carl shouted.

“Why don’t you drive the car yourself?” Loki said. “Or call for backup?”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s already gone. We’ll just track them down through the surveillance cams.”

“Then what do we do now?”

Carl took a deep breath and said, “I’ve gotta make a few more phone calls.”

* * *

“So just to be clear,” Carl asked Nikki, “your parents are okay with you being out this late?”

His junior colleague didn’t respond. Carl turned around to face her as she sat in the backseat. Out of uniform, she sported a pink pullover hoodie and dark gray leggings, and earbuds rested in her ears, barring off the rest of the world.

“Hey,” Carl said, waving at her.

Nikki took out a single earbud. “S-S-Sorry, what?”

“You sure your parents are cool with this? I can take you back anytime.”

“Y-Y-Yeah, it’s alright.”

Carl raised his brow. “You don’t sound too sure of yourself.”

“I know, it’s just…it’s cold.”

“Oh! My bad, I’ll get the heater on.”

As Carl did just that, his younger colleague added, “Plus, aren’t you worried this looks…suspicious? Like isn’t this basically vigilantism?”

Carl turned back to her and shrugged. “Not really. I’ve still got my uniform on. It’ll be alright, though. This is for a good cause.”

Nikki nodded hesitantly.

“Alright,” Carl said, and the car came to a stop before a brownstone apartment. “I’ll be back with Andrade. You wait here. And if you can, try to load up a map of the remaining offline neighborhoods.”

Carl stepped out of his car and marched up the stairs to the front door. He leaned back, taking in the sight of such a lovely home before knocking on the door.

He took a step back as the door unlocked, and Andrade appeared before him. Her hair was messy, and she wore a dark green tank top and black leggings, her cybernetic arm on full display. While he didn’t have the guts to tell her directly, Carl presumed he’d woken her up.

“Good evening, Inspector,” he said. “You ready to—”

Carl cut himself short as Andrade threw her robotic arm around him, pulling him in for a hug. She rested her face on his chest, a somewhat comforting sensation that made up for the unwelcoming compactness of her artificial limb.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

No response. She kept holding on.

“Andrade?”

She let go, taking a step back and flashing him a mournful glare.

“Kinda chilly out here,” Carl said. “Don’t you want to grab a jacket before we head off?”

“I’m fine,” she said, and she brushed past him, climbing into the passenger seat.

A minute later, the car was back on the freeway, and the three Psychwatch officers sat in silence. Carl knew he could’ve done away with the silence by raising the volume on his radio a little louder, but he realized it would’ve prolonged their silence in an ironic twist. Without the music, someone had to get a word out, eventually. The silence was just what they needed to take everything in. With music, they wouldn’t need to say a word. The DJ on the radio or whichever pop singer topping the charts would do the speaking for them, drown out their thoughts and everything important.

Andrade closed her eyes and exhaled, making the first move. “Where are we going, Maslow?”

“Well,” Carl said, scratching his scalp, “nowhere yet. Did you watch the news today?”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember where they said the last one percent of offline neighborhoods in the city is?”

Andrade raised her brow but kept her eyes focused on the road ahead, not even glancing back at Carl the way he glanced at her. “You want to go there?” she asked. “That’s why you brought us along?”

“Yes,” Carl said. “And once we find it, we mark the location and send them to Psychwatch so they can install Scans. Maybe if we’re lucky, we can talk to some residents and ensure them of their safety.”

“What safety, Maslow? Half of the neighborhood will die when the Scans are installed. Rage, drug usage, that’s the fastest way to reach at least a Threat Level 4.”

“Don’t you think opinions have changed since the Rabbit Hole?”

“Opinions might have changed, but not us, Maslow.” Andrade paused. “Actually, there’s been a lot of change lately. Nothing good.”

“Well, we can be the good change,” Carl said.

“It’s not that easy. I don’t even understand how you can be in the same vehicle with me after the rally and the interrogation and…”

Carl nodded, his expression darkening. “It’s because,” he spoke carefully, “I know you’ve been harder on yourself than I could ever be. Which makes sense because you’re several ranks above me. You’ve got bigger shoes to fill.”

“I don’t deserve to be. You’re older than me, Maslow. You even knew Mason before Psychwatch. Why is she even acting this way?”

“Acting how, Andrade?”

“You know what she called me down in the Rabbit Hole? A junkie.”

Carl nodded his head. When he glared at the backseat, he saw Nikki had one of her earbuds removed, lending an ear to her fellow officers.

“You know what that means?” Andrade said. “It means that even after losing my arm, even after Miami and Atlanta and moving up here to Philadelphia, after the group therapy sessions and sobriety coins, she still doesn’t see me as her equal. She thought that instead of doing my job, I’d be down in the Rabbit Hole, going on drug benders, fucking everything in my line of sight.”

“So what does all of that make you want to do?” Carl said. “How would you like to put all of those cruel assumptions to rest?”

Andrade finally met Carl’s eyes, pitiful and frustrated. “It’s too late now,” she said. “Sandoval, Atkinson, Sanger, the next generation of Psychwatch officers. They will have to clean up after us.”

“Andrade, you’re a part of that new generation, too. At least compared to people like me and Mason. How old are you again?”

“Forty-two years old, Maslow.”

“Dang,” Nikki chimed in. “I thought you were younger.”

“See?” Carl said. “So you can still make a difference. All you have to do is tell me the name of that one percent.”

“I still don’t understand how you can forgive me after everything.”

“Well, in a way,” Carl glared at his colleague, “I never really said I did.”

Nikki’s jaw dropped, and Andrade returned her sights to the road ahead, tense as a wire strained to its limits.

“So,” Carl continued, “do you remember where this one percent is?”

Andrade swallowed, taking a moment to catch her breath, before replying in a cracking voice, “Several blocks in northern Nicetown, all around Wayne Junction.”

“Direct to Wayne Junction,” Carl declared, and his vehicle registered the info with a series of beeps. “Did you bring your Fatemaker?”

Andrade shook her head. “No more violence, Maslow.”

“There won’t be. It’s only for self-defense.”

* * *

Wayne Junction. Only a decade ago, a bustling transportation center, famously upgraded to a maglev like all the other major metropolitan train stations. However, years of gruesome suicides and terrorist threats lobbed dirt in the eyes of those with a vision of the future of transportation, and the station was closed. All the surrounding shops and businesses followed suit, and spark roses took the place of their patrons as if to mark where their spirits remained.

As the car came to a halt before the station, the three Psychwatch officers caught sight of a gathering of youths standing on the sidewalk before the ramp up to the platform. Some of them sat on the ramp’s railing. Some of them smoked. Others tended to the makeshift flowerbed of spark roses positioned by the road where a bus stop once stood.

“They look young,” Carl said. “What could they be doing?”

“Looks like pot,” Andrade said softly. “As if kids these days don’t have shitty attention spans already.” She leaned closer to the window, squinting her eyes. “Some of them have the MindLock logo painted on their cheek. That black and yellow lock shaped like a brain. Two of them are wearing those masks from the rally.”

“The white ones with the red Xs over the eyes?”

“Si.”

Carl darted his eyes towards Nikki. “You still have the map on?” he said.

She nodded her head before raising her phone to her superiors’ lines of sight. In a sea of blue, Wayne Junction and the surrounding buildings were a red continent, the last remnants of dry land before the ocean would take over.

Carl glanced back at Andrade. “You’re right,” he said. “This is the place.”

“So now what?”

“We could drive around, take note of places where the Scans could be installed.”

“S-S-Some of them are waving at us,” Nikki said, pointing out the window.

Out of the eight youths gathered before the station, two acknowledged the officers’ presence. One of them, a boy around Holden’s age with the MindLock symbol painted on his cheek, swung his arms in the air from side to side like windshield wipers. The other, a girl sporting the infamous mask with the red Xs, presented a more flirtatious gesture, fluttering her fingers at the officers.

“Should we see what they want?” Andrade asked.

“Sure, lower the window,” Carl said, and the window by Andrade came down. “Can we help you?”

“You Psychwatch?” called the boy.

“I’m getting out to talk. Andrade, you and Nikki look around the neighborhood. Mark any points of interest.”

“What?” Andrade said.

“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything stupid. Please don’t do anything like that either.”

And Carl climbed out of his car, taking a deep breath before making his way toward the station. The clap of each step against the street resounded through the desolate neighborhood.

“Shit,” the MindLock boy said, “you are Psychwatch. What are you gonna do, line us up by the street and fuckin’ blow our brains out one by one?”

“No, sir,” Carl said. “I was just wondering why you’re all out so late.”

“Can’t sleep, that’s all. Ever had those nights where you just can’t sleep? No matter how hard you try?”

“Absolutely, son. What’s your name?”

The MindLock boy forced out a chuckle. “We’re not that close yet, bro. I just met you.”

“Alright. Age?”

“Again we just met, bro.”

“Tulio,” said the girl beside him wearing the mask with the red Xs. “And he’s eighteen.”

“Alright, I guess you know me now, bro,” Tulio said, forcing out another laugh. “What the fuck was that? I thought you had my side.”

The girl took his arm. “Don’t I?” she said.

Carl nodded his head. “And you, ma’am?”

She tilted her head to the side, and the boy with the identical mask approached from behind her, fists clenched by his sides. “If I tell you my name,” she said, “wouldn’t that ruin the whole point of me wearing this mask?”

“Frankly, I find the mask a bit unsettling after the last few months.”

“Oh, don’t worry, bro,” Tulio said. “She’s not a terrorist or some shit. She just likes wearing the mask.”

Carl nodded, unamused. “Mind if I ask where you got the mask?”

“Yeah, just a little,” she giggled. “But you asked! Didn’t he, Tulio?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Tulio said. “Nothing personal, bro. Just MindLock being MindLock and shit.”

“Honey,” Carl said, right fist clenched, hovering around his Fatemaker, “I find that mask disrespectful and downright disgusting. In these months alone, I know fully well what the connotations behind that mask are, and there isn’t a single good thing they represent. So you and the young boy behind you, please remove your masks immediately or I will have to take action.”

“Fuck, man,” Tulio said, and the rest of the youth quietly expressed their opinions amongst themselves as the masked girl and boy stood their ground.

The girl was the first to remove her mask. Brushing her snow-white hair away from her face, Crimson flashed a sly smirk at the Psychwatch officer, pondering whether he’d remembered her as well as she did.

“There,” she grinned, stuffing the mask into her pocket. “Hope I’m cute enough for you, officer. I even cut my hair shorter. You like it?”

The hair, the eyes, the deathly pale skin. He’d seen the girl before. He’d heard the screaming that followed behind her. The boy with the mask? It had to be the other one. The brother, Carl thought.

“What’s your name?” Carl said, catching sight of the girl’s hair. It was a messy bobbed cut, just like Margo’s. Perhaps she was taunting him.

“Jane,” Crimson said. “Jane Doe. And this,” she gestured to the masked boy, “is my brother, John. He’s not a people person like me, so I hope it’s alright that he keeps his mask on.”

“Get that damn thing off. Now.”

The boy did as instructed. Sure enough, it was Whitey hiding beneath the veil of the madman he’d called his leader.

“Damn, bro,” said Tulio. “You got something against these two?”

“Did you even know what either of these two looked like underneath the masks?” Carl said, glaring forward at the twins.

“Yeah, bro, she only put on the mask after I got to know her a little. The brother’s been wearing that mask since he got here, though.”

“And you didn’t think that was, I don’t know, a questionable choice?”

“I dunno, bro, I don’t get involved in random people’s shit. I’m part of MindLock. I don’t want people cracking open my head and looking around inside my brain.”

“And even if someone did just that,” Crimson said, “there probably wouldn’t be any brain to look around in.”

Tulio burst out laughing. “Damn, you got me.”

“Enough,” Carl barked. “Jane Doe, John Doe, whatever the hell you’re calling yourselves, you’re coming with me.”

“No, we’re not,” Whitey said.

“Excuse me?”

“He’s right,” said Crimson. “What have we done wrong?”

“Don’t give me that shit, kid. I saw you down in the Rabbit Hole with those other masked freaks the day Psychwatch dismantled their operations. And I’ll bet you were at the Mental Health Awareness rally, too!”

“Fuck that,” Whitey said. “I hate crowds.”

“Yeah,” Crimson said, although her smile never left. “You’re confusing us with someone else, sir.”

“I know it’s you! I know what you’ve done to people!”

The kids surrounding Carl gasped, and another round of murmurs rippled through them. Tulio stood by with his eyes widened.

“You’re yelling,” Crimson said, “at a bunch of unregistered teenagers in an offline neighborhood. This doesn’t look very good, sir.”

“I’m a Psychwatch officer, sweetheart,” Carl said. “I clean up after your messes. And those messes, by the way, are innocent people whose lives you’ve ended. Lives you’ve ruined! You and that goddamn psychopath you’re working with.”

“We’re not working with anyone, sir. We’re just spending some time with friends.”

“Then how about you name every single person here in this group? All eight people here.”

Crimson smiled wider, a painful sight to witness. “Are you still recording this, Luz?” she said.

“For like two minutes already,” said a girl by their side, and Carl looked to see another one of MindLock’s fanatics training her phone on him.

“Either you let us go, officer,” Crimson said, “or we post this video and paint you as another authority figure abusing his power. We’ve never seen you before.”

Carl saw it in her eyes, bright like a blood moon raining its cursed red light down on the earth. She’d seen him. She’d remembered him well, and he remembered her. Kids, he thought, without the right supervision. Kids who’d fallen for the charm of the Devil himself, the Devil that raised hell at the rally and the Rabbit Hole.

If I leave now, he thought, it doesn’t mean they’ve won.

“Fine,” he said. “I’m sorry to disturb you all. I just wanted to make sure you were safe and sound.”

“We were until you showed up, bitch,” said the girl with the phone, and her friends cackled.

“Yeah, bro,” said Tulio. “You and the rest of Psychwatch need to back the fuck up. Give us some room to breathe.”

“Well, then I’m sure you won’t like what I have to say next.” Carl cleared his throat. “In the next few days, these neighborhoods are going online. The entire city of Philadelphia will be under Psychwatch’s surveillance.”

The youth before him gasped in unison. All but the twins, Crimson’s smile unwavering. Carl realized the glint of confidence had vanished from her eyes. She’d finally appeared unsure of the outcomes.

“The last thing I want is for any of you to get hurt or worse when the Scans are installed,” he said. “So when the time comes, I’ll stop by and ensure no harm comes upon you, and your families will have access to Psychwatch’s best services. But please stay out of trouble. There’s only so many mistakes you can make.”

As his car came back around, grinding to a halt behind him, Carl exchanged one last glance with the group. Tulio, Luz, and the ones without their masks nodded quietly. Whitey’s expression was blank, but his eyes told Carl of all the anger building up. And Crimson? Her smile. Her strained, tiring smile. All it told him was that his mission was far from over.

“Get home safely,” he said. “And have a goodnight.”

Carl took one last look at the spark roses before climbing back into his vehicle.